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2015 London ePrix I
2015 Moscow ePrix |next = 2015 London ePrix II |pole = Sébastien Buemi |natp = SUI |pteam = e.dams-Renault |natpt = FRA |ptime = 1:24.648 |winner = Sébastien Buemi |nat1 = SUI |wteam = e.dams-Renault |natt = FRA |wtime = 47:54.784 |sec = Jérôme d'Ambrosio |nat2 = BEL |third = Jean-Éric Vergne |nat3 = FRA |fastdrive = Lucas di Grassi |natfl = BRA |fltime = 1:28.239 |lapno = 25 |flteam = Audi Sport ABT |flteamnat = GER}} The 2015 Visa London ePrix I, otherwise known as the 2015 London ePrix I was the tenth and penultimate round of the 2014/15 FIA Formula E Championship, staged at the Battersea Park Street Circuit in Battersea Park, London, UK, on 27 June 2015.'Circuit Guide: London 2015', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/calendar/2015-london.aspx, (Accessed 11/06/2015) The ePrix would serve as the first of two races in London to conclude the inaugural FE season, and would see a couple of title pretenders knocked out of the hunt. First blood in the title fight would go to Sébastien Buemi, whom claimed pole for the penultimate race ahead of Jérôme d'Ambrosio. Championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr., meanwhile, would line up in fourth behind Lucas di Grassi, with Nicolas Prost in sixth as the final man with a semi-realistic shot at the crown. The race would start behind the BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car after modifications were made to the first corner, gifting Buemi the chance to sprint clear as Bruno Correia pulled aside. The Swiss ace duly did so to build a significant gap over d'Ambrosio in second, with the rest of the field chasing in grid order. Piquet would cause controversy during his attack on di Grassi, physically squeezing his compatriot towards the barriers as the fought for third. The move would backfire however, for di Grassi managed to run the NextEV TCR wide at the following corner, handing fourth place to Jean-Éric Vergne in the Andretti. Vergne would later pounce on a small mistake by di Grassi to claim third before the stops, which coincided with the first reappearance of the safety car. This time the Qualcomm i8 was required so that Sakon Yamamoto and Daniel Abt could be removed from the circuit, although the marshals were quick to get the circuit cleared. The restart would allow Piquet to re-ignite his fight with di Grassi for fourth, although there was to be no change between the Brazilians to the flag. Buemi, meanwhile, was able to build a small lead over d'Ambrosio to claim victory from the Belgian, with Vergne harassing the Dragon all the way to the finish line, ending the day in third. That result meant that Piquet would head into the final day still with the lead in the Championship, but with Buemi just five points behind. The Teams' Championship, meanwhile, had been settled with a round to spare, with e.dams-Renault proclaimed the inaugural Champions. Background The inaugural 2014/15 FIA Formula E Championship headed to Battersea Park in London, UK, for its season finale, with the first ever double-header weekend for the series set to conclude the season.'Formula E to race in Moscow', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 03/02/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/february/formula-e-to-race-in-moscow.aspx, (Accessed 30/04/2015) Both races would be staged on the pathways around the 200 acre park, with the ever present barriers keeping the cars from tearing up the small piece of grass in the heart of London. The circuit itself presented a mix of corners and challenges, with many speculating that overtaking would be difficult given the narrow layout. Into the entry list and despite being limited to just two nominated drivers and two reserves at the start of the season, Andretti Autosport named their eighth different driver for the season ahead of the finale.'De Silvestro to race in Visa London ePrix', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 14/06/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/de-silvestro-to-race-in-london-eprix.aspx, (Accessed 14/06/2015) They drafted in Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro from their IndyCar programme ahead of the season finale, who replaced Brit Justin Wilson whom had raced in Moscow. Elsewhere, Sakon Yamamoto was enlisted by Amlin Aguri for the finale, becoming their fifth driver, replacing whom had DTM commitments that weekend.'Amlin Aguri picks Yamamoto for London', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 15/06/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/amlin-aguri-picks-yamamoto-for-london.aspx, (Accessed 15/06/2015) Oliver Turvey also joined the Formula E fray for the London double header, with NextEV TCR handing him their second set of cars.'Turvey gets NEXTEV TCR drive', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 18/06/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/turvey-gets-nextev-tcr-drive.aspx, (Accessed 18/06/2015) Turvey had not driven the SRT_01E before the weekend, but was well known as a test driver for the McLaren F1 team. Changes were also made at Trulli, with GP3 ace Alex Fontana called into the second pair of cars for the season finale.'Alex Fontana gets Trulli call-up', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 25/06/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/alex-fontana-gets-trulli-call-up.aspx, (Accessed 25/06/2015) He joined another late call up at Virgin Racing as World Endurance Championship racer Fabio Leimer replaced Jaime Alguersuari in London after the Spaniard withdrew from the meeting on medical grounds.'Leimer replaces Alguersuari for London', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/06/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/leimer-replaces-alguersuari-for-london.aspx, (Accessed 25/06/2015) A Penultimate Push Into the Teams Championship and e.dams-Renault, meanwhile, looked set to sew up the crown at the first attempt, holding a 44 point lead over Audi Sport ABT, with just 48 left to play for after the first race. ABT were therefore more likely in a battle for second with NextEV TCR, while Dragon Racing were hoping to fend off Andretti and Virgin for fourth. Yet, with the Teams' battle almost decided, the focus ahead of the first London ePrix was on the Drivers' Championship, where three drivers could be considered as genuine title challengers. The first London ePrix represented the first of two chances for Championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr. to take the honours, requiring just 14 more points than bitter rival Lucas di Grassi. sat in third ahead of the first London battle, a further six behind di Grassi, with three other drivers in mathematical contention. Nicolas Prost stood the best chance of the three, joined by and Sam Bird, but would require a faultless weekend, and a double retirement from Piquet to stand any chance. Entry List The full entry list for the is displayed below: Practice FP1 FP2 Qualifying Qualifying started at 12:00 GMT in the heart of Battersea Park, with the qualifying groups announced during the second Practice session. The familiar qualifying format was followed in London, with the first of four ten minute sessions seeing the drivers get two attempts at setting a time on full power. Group 1 The first of the title contenders were to be seen in group one, with Lucas di Grassi and Nicolas Prost first onto the circuit, along with 60 point outsider (and requiring pole) Sam Bird.'Visa London ePrix: Qualifying groups', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/06/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/visa-london-eprix-qualifying-groups.aspx, (Accessed 27/06/2015) They would be joined by and debutante Fabio Leimer, although all the attention was on the Brazilian di Grassi, to see if he could qualify ahead of title rivals and Nelson Piquet Jr. Group 2 Jean-Éric Vergne was the standout name in group two, having sat on pole three times during the season, and using the newly founded Andretti Technologies livery. Also in the group would be and Bruno Senna, while two debutants were also on show in Oliver Turvey and Alex Fontana. Group 3 The fourth debutant on offer was Sakon Yamamoto, who was also joined in group three by two former pole sitters in Daniel Abt and Jarno Trulli. Nick Heidfeld and Karun Chandhok, hoping to end the season on a high, would also be seen in group three, although the attention was on the final group of the session. Group 4 Championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr. would have to wait until the final group to get a chance at taking pole, and would be under pressure from third placed too. Another title outsider could be found in , with Salvador Duran and Simona de Silvestro (making her debut) rounding out the final group. Post Qualifying The grid order was unchanged after the session ended, although Trulli was dropped to the back of the grid due to his penalty obtained in Moscow. The final qualifying results for the are outlined below: ** Trulli dropped five places for repeated track limit abuses during the 2015 Moscow ePrix. Race The race was scheduled to start at 16:00 GMT in London, although the modifications made to the first corner after practice meant the race would start behind the BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car.'Buemi’s stroll in the park', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/06/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/buemi-wins-as-edams-renault-clinch-team-title.aspx, (Accessed 27/06/2015) The unique FanBoost vote also came to a close as the race approached, with debutantes Sakon Yamamoto and Oliver Turvey, as well as Nelson Piquet Jr. all gaining the two five second power boosts on offer.'Turvey, Piquet and Yamamoto win FanBoost vote', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/06/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/turvey-piquet-and-yamamoto-win-fanboost-vote.aspx, (Accessed 27/06/2015) Report timed his start beautifully from behind the safety car to give himself a good advantage over for the first racing lap, with status quo in terms of position being maintained throughout the field. Jean-Éric Vergne was the man on the move, however, as he latched himself onto the back of Piquet, while the Brazilian tried to find a way past his rival Lucas di Grassi for the final podium step. The narrow Battersea Park pathways meant space was a premium, and overtaking difficult at best. It was Piquet who tried to overtake first, trying to sling his car around di Grassi into the turn eleven/twelve chicane, before trying to squeeze di Grassi onto the inside wall. Piquet's move meant he came across di Grassi's path, intentionally, with the two becoming locked together as Piquet tried to crowd his rival out of room. Di Grassi responded by steering into Piquet's car, compromising the Championship leader's exit, and allowing Vergne to put his orange Andretti machine around the outside of the NextEV TCR car through turn thirteen. Vergne completed a clean move into the final chicane, dropping Piquet down to fifth as Buemi set the fastest lap of the race out in the lead. Di Grassi's joy was short lived, however, as he found himself in a battle with Vergne just a few laps later, with a banzai move by Vergne into the same corner seeing him move up into third. After that, the fears of a quiet race with no overtakes did emerge, with several drivers opting to chase energy conservation over outright pace. The result was that Vergne came in first with Piquet, while Sam Bird gained time by staying out an extra two laps, before the safety car came out once again. A delay for Oliver Turvey during his stop, combined with the mix of cars emerging from the pits meant that he was in a quartet that involved Daniel Abt, and Salvador Duran, with Nick Heidfeld scampering away in the distance. An issue for Abt on his second car caused him to lose pace, meaning that Turvey was able to out-drive the German out of the first chicane, while Sarrazin and Duran pushed him hard. Both made their way through with the Audi Sport ABT machine visibly suffering, before Abt's race came to an end when he hit the wall at the exit of the final corner. The safety car emerged after some delay, as Sakon Yamamoto found himself stuck at the narrow pit exit, his race ended on the spot. Yet, Abt's car was removed in short order, meaning that Bird, whom had lost the time he gained by saving energy in his first car through a poor stop, was now back with a chance of solid points. Vergne, meanwhile, found himself staring at a potential win, although di Grassi and Piquet were quick to latch onto his tail as the race restarted. Piquet was quick to launch another assault at the back of di Grassi's car after the restart, but di Grassi's careful placement saw him defend fourth with relative ease, leaving Piquet to come under pressure from Nicolas Prost in the second e.dams-Renault. Bird, meanwhile, had almost 15% more power available to him then those around him, meaning he was climbing through the pack with relative ease, Turvey in his wake. Battles were being fought throughout the field, although the main focus was on Bird and di Grassi, the former having cleared and staring solidly at the back of a now limping Piquet (down into his final dregs of power), while di Grassi began to throw his car around in Vergne's wake. No moves came however on the final lap, with Buemi taking victory from d'Ambrosio and Vergne, with the result meaning e.dams-Renault won the Teams' Championship with one race to spare. Buemi also became the favourite to take the title, despite remaining five points in arrears to Piquet before the final race of the season. Result The final classification of the is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold. * Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race. Milestones * e.dams-Renault became the first FIA Formula E Championship Teams' Champions. * First ePrix to be staged in London. * Debut race for Fabio Leimer, Alex Fontana, Simona de Silvestro, Sakon Yamamoto and Oliver Turvey. * Third pole position for Sébastien Buemi. ** Also the fifth pole set by a driver entered by e.dams-Renault. * Buemi claimed his third career victory in FE. * e.dams-Renault secured their fourth triumph as an entrant in FE. * Lucas di Grassi recorded his first fastest lap. * Maiden points finish for Turvey. Standings Despite Sam Bird, Nicolas Prost and all falling by the wayside, the Championship would still go down to the final race of the season with three drivers still in contention. Nelson Piquet Jr. still held the lead, but his margin was now just five points, and looked to be the stronger of the two. Lucas di Grassi, who had led the Championship since the start of the season apart from a brief couple of races now became the outsider, but with just thirteen points separating him from glory, he was far from out of the fight. e.dams-Renault, meanwhile, successfully took the Teams' Championship with a race to spare, after Audi Sport ABT lost Daniel Abt's car during the race. That left the German team in a battle with NextEV TCR for second, while Dragon Racing and Andretti Autosport were locked together in a battle to be best of the American teams once more. The Trulli Formula E Team looked set to finish the season at the foot of the table, while Venturi hoped for a strong finale to overhaul Amlin Aguri for seventh. Only point scoring drivers are shown. References Videos and Images: * References: Category:2014/15 ePrix Category:London ePrix